good day. i'm andrea mitchell. as the nation pauses today for the first memorial to george floyd, which we will bring to you with full live coverage this afternoon. here in washington president trump's threats to use the military to control protests are drawing a devastating critique from his first defense secretary, retired first army marine general james mattis. mattis breaking his silence after the president threatened to use military force against domestic protesters and was flanked by top military advisers in a blatant political photo-op

in front of st. john's. and one day after former joint chiefs chairman mike mullen blasted the admiral to force peaceful protesters from latchette park. writing in part -- donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the american people, does not even intend to try. instead he tries to divide us. we are witnessing the consequences of the three years of this deliberate effort. and his initial support from the president's threat to use military force against the protesters is now raising questions about whether esper is on thin ice with the president, amidst reports mr. trump has been advised not to fire his secretary this close to an election. joining me nbc white house correspondent kristen welker and chief white house correspondent peter baker. kristen, what are the latest white house pushbacks?

what are you seeing in lafayette park here today? >> andrea, first of what we're seeing in lafayette park, i will start with the last part of your question, let me step out of the way so you can see the protesters here. they have expanded the fence around the white house, around lafayette park to these protesters but the protesters are here nonetheless. you can see them. they are peaceful. a number of them holding up signs demanding change, justice for george floyd reads one. wake up, stand up says another one. black lives matter. another man holding a sign that says "stop killing us." andrea, you can see the emotions are still running high here outside of the white house where a number of people during the day are demanding change. of course, there were peaceful protests largely overnight in washington, d.c. to the remarkable break we're seeing between the president and the military. the fact you have general james

mattis coming out and criticizing his handling of this crisis, accusing the current commander in chief of only further dividing the nation, something that is frankly unprecedented. president trump lashed out at james mattis overnight, no surprise there. but what happens to the current defense secretary? defense secretary esper, who yesterday in very public comments made it clear that he did not know he was going to be a part of a photo-op earlier this week when he stood in front of the church, st. john's church here, with president trump, and president trump held up the bible and, of course, when he said he's opposed to using the military to try to quell these protesters based on our reporting, based on conversations with sources, we are getting the indication that for now his job is safe. press secretary kayleigh mcenany yesterday certainly wasn't definitive about that but she made it clear, he's the defense

secretary for now. no plans to change that. but taking a step back, all of this underscores the fact yet again president trump breaking with the establishment, breaking with some of his closest officials as he tries to handle this crisis that is increasingly gripping the entire nation, andrea. >> and, peter, we have never seen an american president in realtime criticized by as many four star retired officers, obviously current military cannot, and mattis among the retired military, had notably retained his silence, even after resigning in protest of the president's very precipitous withdrawal from syria. let's talk about that and the significance of what mattis is writing. mattis is writing, we know we're better than the abuse of the executive authority we witnessed in lafayette park. we must reject and hold accountable those in office who make a mockery of our constitution.

how extraordinary is this? >> well, it is extraordinary, of course. other presidents have had tec s tensions with the military going back to the early days of the republic. even more recently the general spoke out during george w. bush's administration pressuring him to fire done rumsfeld, feeling he was not doing the right job in iraq. you heard a lot of tension between president obama and former military. but we haven't seen anything quite like this. this is a pretty big break between a president who made his support for the military a pretty i big cornerstone of his political career and the people charged with carrying out the nation's defense. they do not want to be in the streets of american cities performing law enforcement against rioters and looters, much less against peaceful protesters. the idea is a major concern to officers. i think it's a major, major crisis for this president. we will see if he backs down or

deescalates it. but for the moment there's a lot of concern in the white house this could be very damaging to a commander in chief whose election is just five months away and who is depending on the support of people who like the military, trust the military and want to believe the military. >> and peter, also, you were the first to break the story, you and maggie haberman, about the president being brought down to the bunker on friday. and he now pushing back against your reporting, calling it false reports and saying he only went to the bunker just to tour the bunker. but the reporting is he went down there and was brought by the secret service along with melania and their son baron. >> yes, it was not an inspection, it was you need to be down here for a while. there was concern because one of the barricades being put up near the treasury department had been briefed and the secret service has protocol for these kinds of

things. he was brought down to the bunker for a little while. he hates that image. that wasn't his decision necessarily, but he hates the idea he looks weak. that's one of the reasons why i think you've seen him come out so strongly in the last few days and making the point he wants to be tough and dominate, to use his word, the demonstrators on the streets, because he hates the idea he looks weak. and that's why he walks across the park, he wants the visual for him striding outside of the gates not being afraid of demonstrators rather than him being shuffled off to a bunker inside the white house. >> thank you very much peter baker and kristen welker out in lafayette park. leon panetta served as secretary of defense in the obama administration and also former cia director and white house chief of staff and chair of the house budget committee. secretary panetta, thank you so much for being with us. your reaction to general mattis' criticism after more than a year

of holding back? >> general mattis is a marine and a patriot who has dedicated his life to service of this country and takes his oath of offense very seriously to preserve and protect and defend the constitution of the united states. that goes to the heart of jim mattis is. so when you spoke out yesterday, i think you were hearing somebody who really believes deeply in what this country is all about, believes deeply in our constitution, and is very concerned about a president who instead of unifying this country has divided it. so i appreciate the fact that jim felt compelled to speak out. it was the right moment to speak out. this country is in deep crisis right now in a number of ways. but for him to speak out and make clear what the

responsibility of leeshdshaders all about i think was very important for the military and for the country. >> what do you think the response is right now inside the pentagon among uniformed leaders after seeing what's happened in the last week? >> look, i have a lot of respect for our military leadership. these are individuals that have put their lives on the line in order to protect this country and believe deeply in what this country is all about. and i'm sure that there has been a lot of concern about what the president has done in terms of saying that he's going to deploy our military and make it the dominant force in the country. our military was not trained for that purpose. they were trained to fight for adversaries in combat and to fight our enemies, not to fight

our american people. they're not trained in riot control or law enforcement. they're trained for combat with foreign adversaries. and our laws, the ponce combative act makes clear our military ought not replace law enforcement in this country. for all of these reasons i think our military understands that it has a role to play, it has a constitutional role to play, and they feel that it is important that our military stand by its principal role of defending this country abroad, not fighting its people here in this country. that is a distinction that the president of the united states needs to understand, that the role of the u.s. military is not the role of law enforcement in this country. >> and i think we have as well the comments by the white house

press secretary, who was comparing the president's, quote, courage in crossing lafayette park after he had been cleared and cleared in the right controversial way, with churchill touring london during the blitz and also with george w. bush throwing out the first pitch after 9/11. i want to just play a little bit of that for you. >> churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage. it's been a powerful message of leadership to the british people and george w. bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11 and jimmy carter putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings and george h.w. bush signing the americans with disabilities act flanked by two disabled americans. and for this president it was important to send a message the rioters, looters, anarchists will not prevail. >> senator panetta, just a

comparison with those leaders of churchill and george w. bush after 9/11, how does that strike you? >> andrea, i think this country is facing three-natured crises right now. obviously the covid pandemic threatening a lot of lives in our country, the issue of racial injustice and what we saw happen in minneapolis tells us we have a long way to go to achieve equal justice for all. but we also have a crisis of leadership with the president who doesn't understand the importance of leading this country, of unifying this country, to take on the challenges that we're facing. and when his press secretary and he -- he has to reach for examples of leadership and now compare his role today to the role of historic leaders that we

all understood were leaders, tells us an awful lot about who this guy is. the reality is if you're a good leader and you're doing some of the right things in leading this country, you don't have to compare yourself to anybody. you don't have to pretend to be a leader because by doing the right thing, by bringing this country together, by making clear what our problems are and what needs to be done, that is what leadership is all about. not pretend leadership, real leadership. >> i just want to point out something politico is reporting, which is that lisa myrrh cussky, independent republican from alaska, as you snow, has just told politico that madison's words were "true, honest, necessary and overdue," and she told politico she is struggling with whether or not to support president trump in 2020 for re-election. your thoughts?

>> lisa murkowski is a senator with a conscience. she's somebody who i think has the best interest of the country as her first objective. look, we all -- i think deep down, republicans and democrats and independents in this country of all kinds understand the nature of this president. he's been in office 3 1/2 years. he's not going to change. he's primarily interested in himself as opposed to the country. that's reflected in all of his actions. and there does come a point where i think everyone in their conscience has to recognize that if this country is going to be able to continue as a strong and united country, that this

leadership is not going to do it because it is in fact holding us back from being the kind of country we need to be. thank god for the american people, because i really do think that the american people in many ways have made this president irrelevant. because the american people are pulling together. they have great common sense. they have great spirit. they understand the constitution, what it's all about. they understand what right and wrong is all about. so i think it is the american people, or, frankly, that are holding this country together now and facing these crises, not the president. >> leon panetta, who i might point out started out as a republican and after watergate became a democrat. thank you very much, mr. secretary. >> thank you, andrea. >> thank you for being with us today. as thousands are pointing to the streets to protest across

the country this week as the secretary was just pointing out, there were many moments marred by looting and rioting in some cases, and mayors have imposed curfews to regain control. but in the last 24 hours, we've seen a mood change. mayors telling their police to let up and not enforce the curfews as sporadic violence became less of a threat. and confrontations even turned into celebration following the arrests of all four officers charged in the death of george floyd. coming up, we will talk to the mayor of atlanta who has just extended the kcurfew in her cit for five more nights. meanwhile, in lincoln, nebraska, the mayor joining protesters in a few dance moves. that line dancing video went viral. and the idea spread to minneapolis as well, where the crowd took to the streets in a different way. meanwhile, here in

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in minnesota, the first memorial service for george

floyd will begin in less than two hours as his family prepares to honor mr. floyd's life and legacy. even as all four minneapolis police officers charged with his murder are all now behind bars. charges against the officer who pressed his knee into floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes were upgraded to second degree murder from third and the three other officers involved were charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder after minnesota's attorney general keith ellison took over the investigation from the local prosecutor. nbc's shaq brewster and gabe gutierrez are both in minneapolis. gabe, first to you. you're at the site where it all took place, and i believe keith ellison is there as well. >> hi, andrea. yes, within the past few minutes activity here. attorney general keith ellison was just here. he didn't want to talk, just pay his respects here. congresswoman omar and congressional members of the black caucus here to pay

respects. andrea, i want to show you around the scene because many of our viewers who have not seen this may not appreciate how large this has gotten. here's some artwork that had been put up. if our cameraman can show a little bit of the scene, you see people here paying their respects. they have been for quite some time for several days, people of all ages. over here, you see there are parents with children. just take a look all the way over there, andrea. this is where george floyd spent his last few moments and took his last breath, but there have been flowers here across the street, 38th and chicago and quite a lot -- quite a lot of activity here over the last few days where people come to pay their respects, andrea. so we await this memorial service in just a short time. and in a few hours we expect the

three officers will be charged in this case to face a judge at just around the same time that this memorial service is set to get under way. so i am going to send it back to you, andrea. i'm told -- hold on one second here. excuse me, andrea. keith ellison may be speaking live right over here. but we're going to listen to what he has to say. it's kind of a little bit of a situation over here with assembled media and observers. so i'm going to send it back to you and i will see if i can walk over there and get any of his comments live. >> you bet. thank you, to you and bill as you move around so, so beautifully to show us that scene. that is not an easy task. shaq, you've been there from the very beginning. talk to me about the scene at the memorial and, of course, what you have seen last night. >> you're seeing a much more somber scene here on the site in

north minneapolis as the city gathers to say farewell to george floyd. a couple minutes ago we saw the hearse come up and unload the casket in the building. this will be a private ceremony, much different than the public commemorations we've been seeing, and it will be the first of several for george floyd that will go across the country. first, a two-hour-long ceremony for family and friends of george floyd here in minneapolis. and then this weekend he will be sent to north carolina, where there will be a public viewing. and then he will be laid to rest in houston where he grew up on tuesday. that's what we're going to see there. there is a park across the street where people can come and gather and participate outside of the ceremony and outside of the memorial but this is going to be a much different scene than what we've seen the past couple of days, where you saw at the site where he died, sometimes somber and sometimes turned celebratory. this will be a much more subdued tone as people honor the life and memory of george floyd. andrea? >> shaq, as you were there

overnight, there was such a change in mood after the decision by keith ellison when he took over from the local prosecutor and the decision to upgrade the charges, obviously, against the first officer and also to charge the others, the other three. >> that's right, andrea. i struggle with the word to find to describe the mood at the scene here as that announcement went out. initially you heard people chanting and raising their fists in the air, at one point saying we shall overcome. and then it turned anxious, some anxiety there. as they knew the difficulties of charging an officer, that is something attorney general keith ellison warned of yesterday, getting a conviction is a hard thing to do. but then there's also hope as people got together, people having exchanges and talking to people who they never knew, people from all over the country who went to that scene, a very sacred site. it was a range of emotions there and that's something you saw evolve over the course of the

day. andrea? >> shaq, thanks to you. thank you very much for all of your coverage. we look forward to continuing to hear from you from there as well. meanwhile, atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms has been managing the protests in her city in spongs to george floyd's murder as well as anger of ahmad in her area. and the violence that erupted last weekend gave her an issue to deliver a strong response. >> when i heard there were rumors about violent protests in atlanta,dy what a mother would do, i called my son, and i said where are you? i said, i cannot protect you, and black boys shouldn't be out today. i wear this each and every day, and i pray over my children each and every day. >> joining me now is the mayor of atlanta, keisha lance

bottoms. madam mayor, thank you very much for being with us. tell us about the protests overnight and continuing the curfew. you also responded so quickly, to respond to the six officers that had been charged -- i think four had been charged with the way they dealt with stopping those two college students. rather two have been charged or two have been fired, six have been charged. sorry about the confusion. i just wanted to ask you about how you're juggling all of this at the same time. >> you know, andrea, like so many people across america, i'm feeling an entire range of emotions. we're just taking it one day at a time in atlanta. what struck me watching the casket of george floyd was just that, we were watching the casket of a father and a brother and a friend.

and for as big as his movement and moment is for all of us, i just have to remind myself and remind everyone who is watching that these are families who are hurting. ment they've lost loved ones. and so, you know, in atlanta we are the home of the civil rights movement, and the birthplace of dr. martin luther king jr. so we have a very high tolerance for peaceful protests in our city. but like so many other cities across america right now, we are dealing with disruptions that we are not accustomed to. and it has caused many of our partners who are on the streets with us attempting to keep order to have to use more force than i have ever seen in my lifetime on the streets of atlanta. but that being said, i'm so grateful for all of the peaceful

protesters, and this is call to action that is so much bigger than all of us right now. >> and as you have to balance using the additional force that you would normally use and curfew and challenges of imposing that, the way you responded as a mother, you're responding to george floyd, to seeing the casket. you're also responding as a mother when you think of your own family. >> no, i am. and even as i'm preparing to go on with you, my 18-year-old just knocked on the door to tell me that he was leaving. and each time that happens, my heart sinks. and it sinks because of where we are now, and i know what we're dealing with now in our streets. we're dealing with officers who are fatigued. we're dealing with the unknown right now. and that's what we're feeling across this country, and that's

why i think it's now more important than ever that when we see the peaceful protests happening in our cities across america, that we allow them to happen and allow people to come together and grieve, even in the midst of covid-19. we have had our set of challenges in atlanta. you mentioned the college students and you mentioned the officers that were fired. this is all happening in realtime, and i think what the past week or so has shown us, that the luxury of time that we had, we don't have it anymore. as leaders, we have to act in a much more swift manner than we are normally accustomed to acting. and i think that's a shift in leadership that you will see across this nation in the same way that you're seeing the shift in this movement across the country. >> as an african-american leader and as a mother, how do you

respond to the way the president reacted, his threats to use force and to militarize the use of force? >> he is such a distraction right now. and i have to remind myself to stop giving him so much energy, because every single moment that i give to him is a moment that i don't have to give to the real work that needs to be done. i think we saw the model in joe biden's speech the other day when he spoke of empathy and acknowledgment of the frustration and pain and articulating the need for us to move forward. and president trump seriously does not have a fundamental ability to do that. so i said to myself, i'm going to stop asking him and expecting him to give me something that he's incapable of giving to me and the american people, and i was so moved by the words of

secretary mattis, because there are people in good conscience who we may not always agree with in terms of policies or politics, but there are people in good conscience who are stepping up and they're speaking up. and i think that's what the nation needs right now. >> a lot of people, speaking of joe biden, were very -- a lot of people were very struck by the way he praised you. he singled you out when he was talking to mayors. he praised your incredible response to everything that's happened. has anyone from his campaign reached out to you to vet you for a place on the ticket? >> well, i think those are appropriate questions for the biden campaign, but i appreciated the compliment from the vice president, but the reality is i'm one of many leaders across this country, some of whom we are seeing and hearing from and some whom we

are not. we're just all doing the best that we can right now and the best we know how to do in terms of making sure that our communities are healthy and whole. but there's so much healing and so much work that we recognize needs to be done. but we're dealing with what's in front of us immediately and that's what is happening on our streets right now. but this is, obviously, the embodiment of a bigger issue and bigger cause that all of us, joined by mayor as cross the country, are giving our full attention to. >> have you reached -- have you heard from them or have you heard from him, i should say? >> i endorsed joe biden back in june of last year, so i'm in constant contact with the biden campaign, because i have been a part of the team for almost a year now. and so it's not unusual for me to speak with someone from the

team very regularly. >> mayor, it's very good of you to take the team, especially with everything that's going on in your city and, of course, with your family as well. thank you so much for being with us today. >> thank you. and back in minneapolis, keith ellison has been speaking, the attorney general. let's listen in. >> you know, and so i -- these are small group conversations we are having. >> starting today. >> absolutely. >> that's what we need, to be starting that conversation. >> and some of our congressional black caucuses will join us. >> yes. >> i know you will be there. it's a beginning and a step forward for our community to come together and start the healing process. >> when it comes to my community but then in congress, we need to

make sure we keep breaking bread. >> i want to thank you for modeling that. thank you. thank you, everybody. >> and if i can move on to something that you said, i think there should be pronouncements, pronouncements with the actions, today, tomorrow, today america stop this behavior and get back to the life of human decency. because what happened to my neighbor, her constituent, this brother, george floyd, was indecent of humanity. so there's never been a sense with a human being -- for some reason there's been discoloration, and i believe we have to have a complete overall and systemic change of law

enforcement and recognizing we're a law-and-order nation. when i say that, we abide by laws. the civilians who watched that officer did what they could. they spoke. they said stop. they didn't charge him. and the protesters are doing what they can, and i pray for them. so i'm just asking the question of the good people of minneapolis and houston around the nation, i'm asking for those people that are not protesting, that can't seem to understand this glaring distinction of how people, african-american men -- >> and women. >> -- and women. i'm asking them a simple question, i want them just to accept human decency, and if they accept that, you do your case. you have to, as you said, do the facts and do justice, and follow the law, but it is a question of human decency. >> can i say one last thing?

and then i'll let you go. >> we have been listening to a moment in minneapolis near the commemoration of the memorial site of sheila jackson lee, texas congresswoman member of the committee talking to her former colleague keith ellison, who is now the attorney general of minnesota and carrying forth this very difficult prosecution. right now in washington attorney general -- the country's attorney general william barr, fbi director chris wray and other officials are talking about the federal response to the protests here in washington. let's listen. >> that ancient principle still holds true. our free society depends on the rule of law. the assurance that ordinary citizens can go about their lives without being subject to arbitrary violence or fear. when the rule of law breaks down, the promise of america

does also. our nation is now confronting two serious challenges to the rule of law. the first is a long-standing one but was recently crystalized and driven home by the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. the video of the police conduct in this episode, as i said before, is harrowing. when you watch it and imagine one of your own loved ones was being treated this way and begging for their lives, it is impossible for any normal human being not to be struck to the heart with horror. this matter is being pursued by both the state and the federal government. the state has filed already second degree murder charges against one of the officers and aiding and abetting charges

against the other three officers. as we typically do in cases such as this, the department of justice and the fbi is conducting a parallel independent investigation into possible violations of federal civil rights laws. the president has directed me to spare no effort. we are coordinating our work with the attorney general of minnesota, and as a matter of comedy, the department of justice typically let's the state go forward with its proceedings first. this afternoon our united states attorney in minnesota and the fbi special agent in charge of our minneapolis field office, the fbi's field office, will attend a memorial service for

mr. floyd. today is a day of mourning. and the day is coming soon, i am confident, when justice will be served. george floyd's death was not the first of its kind, and it exposes concerns that reach far beyond this particular case. while the vast majority of police officers do their job bravely and righteously, it is undeniable that many african-americans lack confidence in our american criminal justice system. this must change. our constitution mandates equal protection of the laws and nothing less is acceptable. as the nation's leading federal law enforcement agency, the department of justice will do its part. i believe that police chiefs and law enforcement officials and

leaders around the country are committed to ensuring that racism plays no part in law enforcement. and that everyone receives equal protection of the laws. in october 2019, the president established the first commission on law enforcement since the 1960s. and i am meeting with him later this month, and i have been talking to law enforcement leaders around the country, and in the weeks and months ahead, we will be working with community leaders to find constructive solutions so that mr. floyd's death will not have been in vain. we will work hard to bring good out of bad. unfortunately, the aftermath of george floyd's death has produced a second challenge to the rule of law. while many have peacefully expressed their anger and grief,

others have hijacked protests to engage in lawlessness. violent rioting, arson, looting of businesses, and public property, assaults on law enforcement officers and innocent people, and even the murder of a federal agent. such senseless acts of anarchy are not exercises of first amendment rights, they are crimes designed to terrify fellow citizens and intimidate communities. as i told the governors on monday, we understand the distinction between three different sets of actors here. the large preponderance of those who are protesting are peaceful demonstrators who are exercising their first amendment rights. at some demonstrations, however,

there are groups that exploit the opportunity to engage in such crimes as looting. pt an and, finally, at some demonstrations there are extremist agitators who are hijacking the protests to pursue their own separate and violent agenda. we have evidence that antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions, have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity. and we are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides to exacerbate the violence. the department of justice is working to restore order in the district of columbia and around the nation. here in washington we're working with the local police, the citizen soldiers of the national guard, and other federal agencies to provide safety and

justice. we have deployed all of the major law enforcement components of the department on this mission, including the fbi, the atf, the dea, the bureau of prisons and the u.s. marshal service. their leaders are with me today and will be talking shortly. i thank all of these leaders and components for working bravely and professionally to protect the district. i'm pleased to say that -- especially over the last two nights, the demonstrations while large have been peaceful. the justice department is also working closely with our state and local partners to address violent riots around the country. our federal law enforcement efforts are focused on the violent instigators. through the fbi, u.s. attorney's

offices, component field offices and state and local enforcement, we are receiving realtime intelligence and we have deployed resources to quell outbreaks of violence in several places. i urge governors and mayors and other state and local leaders to work closely with the national guard and with us. the federal government has thus far made 51 arrests for federal crimes in connection with violent rioting. we will continue to investigate, to make arrests and to prosecute where warranted. when i was attorney general in 1995 -- >> joining me now, clint watts, former fbi special agent. we've been watching the attorney general, along with me, teaching counterterrorism to law enforcement the past 15 years. as an expert, quint, this is the first time i heard the attorney general say he's also seeing

foreign actors trying to exacerbate or take advantage of this. in his previous on-camera moment a couple of days ago and in his statements he focused mostly, if not entirely, on listening violent agitators. but now we've had some white supremacists arrested in denver and also your reporting, what do you know about any foreign actors, including russia, trying to take advantage of the problems here in the united states? >> yes, andrea, what's interesting about it is the attorney general talked about this full spectrum. i would tell you we see everything from brazen criminals using the protests as an opportunity to conduct theft and violence, to extremists on the left and political right wings. and you have countries like russia and china using the protest to essentially get their message out and bash the united states. i've not seen any direct evidence of foreign countries going into and amplifying these

protests or messing around but i have seen them amplifying the disunity in this country, essentially making fun of the united states for being in the state of disarray. one thing that i do find a little disturbing about the way the attorney general postured it is he named one group in his speech but he couldn't name any other so-called groups or movements. there was a major arrest outside of las vegas with what is known as the boogaloo group, and this extremist movement that has a very anti-government fringe. we've seen white supremacists surface in this space. i think when he talked about the 51 arrests, which i'm thrilled the federal law enforcement is enforcing that, i would really like to know whether we're calling this terrorism or domestic terrorism or pushing for such a designation? what are we really talking about with those 51 arrests? is this an organized terrorist movement? if so, we need to ever evidence. if not we need to help

understand what's going on because it's creating a lot of misinformation inside of the united states that gets politicized by political ads coming out of the white house, even yesterday. >> and as briefly, clint, as all of these different agencies were deployed in d.c., which is the one area that isn't a state so there's no governor to say, thank you but no thanks, we also have the bureau of prisons but they were apparently unbadged, which created questions about many of the demonstrators, the protesters, who are these people in riot gear who were trying to block them or arrest them? >> the scale and severity of these protests are fueled by conspiracies. and as long as there's conspiracies out there, you need to provide information quickly and early on. what if this press conference that's going on right now, which is a necessary press conference, it happened on tuesday? you should be communicating to the public before you are deploying force so they understand what they are seeing. yesterday was a complete vacuum.

when you see people show up in unmarked uniforms and won't say who they are, you have to wonder what is their authority to be out enforcing some sort of security? are you supposed to obey them? this press conference could have been done two days ago, and it would have quelled a lot of the conspiracies that are empowering the violence that you are seeing out on the streets right now. >> or even down before the president made his threats to have the insurrection act against the very states. clint, thank you very much. we should point out mayor bowser announced in d.c. there will be no curfew, she was suspending the curfew. and in fact it was not enforced and thousands were out overnight in peaceful demonstrations. meanwhile, drew brees from the saints is apologizing about players taking the knee protesting police brutality.

and some of the angriest responses are now coming from his own teammates. stephanie gosk reports. >> reporter: saints quarterback drew brees is apologizing over these comments he made in an interview with yahoo! finance. >> i will never with anybody disrespecting the flag of the united states of america. >> reporter: brees was asked about whether players should take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice like colin papkaepernick did in 2016. >> is everything right with our country right now? no, it's not. we still have a long way to go. but what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart is it shows unity. >> reporter: brees posting on instagram this morning saying, i made comments that are were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we're facing right now as a country. they lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy. it's not an accurate reflection of my heart or my character. it comes after a major backlash against brees with several

saints teammates criticizing his stance, including malcolm jenkins who posted this video. >> i take my helmet off, i'm a black man walking around america. i'm deal with these things. my community is deal with these things and your response to me is, don't talk about that here. this is not the place. where is the place, drew? >> reporter: the anger also spilling over into the nba. lakers superstar lebron james writing, wow, man, you literally still don't understand why kap was kneeling on one knee. has nothing to do with disrespect of the flag. former nba player steven jackson, a childhood friend of george floyd, equally frustrated. >> you play for new orleans and live in new orleans. all the black people normally support you. you got to be more sensitive to the timing, bro. >> joining me now, stephanie gosk and "washington post" political reporter eugene scott who writes about identity

politics among many other things. stephanie, drew brees just showed such insensitivity to his own teammates and to the struggle that this country is in right now. >> well, i think we should go through the timeline here, andrea, and see how this played out. drew brees did an interview with yahoo! finance, specifically ask about how he's going to feel in the fall when players inevitably protest racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. obviously, in the wake of everything that's been going on in this country, you are likely to see some of that. he was pointedly asked that question and his answer was, i believe that it is disrespectful to the flag and the country to kneel during the anthem. he then, after those comments, which were quite long, were then highly criticized and triggered this reaction from teammates and other athletes like lebron james, he then clarified with espn in another statement. that statement, as well, triggering even more anger and

then finally today, this morning, issuing this apology. it's important to note that the apology does not talk about taking a knee during the anthem at all. it is not clear that drew brees has changed his position on whether or not it's respectful or not to take a knee during the anthem. what he does is apologize and even in his words say, he's apologizing for the way his words have been perceived. training camp for the nfl probably starting soon, although the pandemic is putting some question marks on exactly when. but this back and forth on social media, heated, raw, emotional. that's set to happen face to face pretty soon. >> indeed. and eugene scott, what is your reaction to all of this? >> i think a lot of the disappointment with brees' comments is that he is viewed by many people as particularly in new orleans as someone who they expected to understand what this protest was about.

his legacy is very tied to his charitable response to hurricane katrina which disproportionately affected black people because of systemic racism. so there was some thought that perhaps brees got it. and when brees communicated his opinion and gave the impression that he did not completely understand why his own teammates were protesting police violence, that gave some concern that if drew brees doesn't get it, there's so many more nfl players who still, after all this time, are missing the point. >> and eugene, there are people now saying, including john lewis, that this time is different. what is different? is it that this is multigenerational and multiracial and that it's national in scope? >> certainly. there have been protests in all 50 states. when i compare these to perhaps the 2015 protest involving the death in response to the death of mike brown in ferguson, this

is definitely multigenerational and multiethnic. there are people at the table involved in the conversation wanting to see change that look very different from what we saw in 2015 and are part of some of the voting blocs that donald trump and republican lawmakers are depending upon to be victorious in november. and the likelihood of them being as successful is not as high without them addressing this issue that protesters want them to pay attention to. >> stephanie, when you look at sports, sports is now -- we talked to malcolm jenkins earlier this week. sports figures, lebron and others are deeply invested in what's happening nationally. you can't separate sports from the rest of america. >> no, you really can't. and you look back at this whole issue, taking a knee in the nfl. back in 2016 with colin kaepernick. you'll remember the entire country was involved in that conversation, whether they were football fans or not.

that demonstration during the national anthem became a, you're on this side or you're on the other side and it caused a lot of tension and it's very clear it continues to do so. perhaps even more today than back then. >> stephanie, thanks for joining us. and our thanks always to eugene scott. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." please make sure to join brian williams at 2:00 eastern today for complete coverage of the memorial service for george floyd, live from minneapolis. chuck todd and katy tur pick up our coverage after a short break. ♪

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♪ good afternoon in the east and good morning out west. i'm chuck todd. we're awaiting a moment of national mourning. george floyd's memorial service set to begin next hour. senate democrats held a nearly nine-minute moment of silence. that's the amount of time officer derek chauvin kept his knee on floyd's neck. tou thao, thomas lane and j. alexander kueng are scheduled to be arraigned this hour. we'll bring you any developments as they happen on that front. and attorney general bill barr is defending his use of force on the streets while the city's mayor wants t